Abraham Lincoln once said: "If I had nine hours to cut down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my axe."
A history lesson? No, psychology. Specifically, 'positive psychology' - a new subject leading schools are incorporating into everyday activities to maximise student wellbeing. It is a learning aid and a 'brain trainer', helping pupils cope with some of the negative effects of adolescence.
The Abraham Lincoln quote was used by ACG Strathallan principal Robin Kirkham last month at assembly as a device to show students effective tools are needed to develop a positive self-image; the measures he was describing were "the sharpening part of the exercise".
Positive psychology has become a key part of education at some institutions - Victoria University teaches a Science of Happiness course. It's important because adolescents are at heightened risk of being consumed by emotional issues (New Zealand's record number of suicides last year was the second-highest cause of death in young people) and right now are gearing up for the stress of end of year exams.
Schools like ACG Strathallan have integrated this form of pastoral care with academic endeavours - showing students how the human brain is more than capable of defaulting to negative thinking and introducing ways to counter that through the realm of positive thinking.
Kirkham became interested in the subject when completing his post-graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership - studying a pioneer in the field of positive psychology, Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania. Seligman felt people could learn cognitive tools to marshal positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.
He was also a fan of Paul Tough whose book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character showed working only on kids' cognitive skills neglected important character strengths like grit, curiosity, conscientiousness, self-control, and optimism.
'Positive education' is applied through the whole ACG Strathallan school through teacher training, classroom feedback, lesson design, performance feedback and more. Wellbeing is at the heart of education, allowing students to learn effectively, as well as providing a strong foundation on which pupils can build a successful life.
Kirkham couldn't wait to embrace and share this with his school - and began doing so in assemblies.
"Assembly is my classroom," he says. "I wanted to carry [the students] with my learning, so I would take some of what I was learning to them in assembly. Since then it's grown".
The planned growth really came together after another teacher shared a mindfulness session. It resonated with the focus and clarity Kirkham had brought to teaching his theatre and drama classes, as well his core subject - science.
"Drama changed my teaching of science, particularly chemistry which is about ideas and sub-microscopic things. You're trying to guide the students to make sure they are thinking about it in the right way, so I'd get them to visualise, focus on breathing, relaxing on the floor, even."
Kirkham recognised teens could really use the tools and techniques of mindfulness to get through the anxiety, even anger, that comes with adolescence. Last year ACG Strathallan became part of a pilot for Mindfulness Aotearoa, an eight-week programme developed by the Mental Health Foundation to reduce psychological distress and increase wellbeing.
"'Pause, Breathe, Smile' mindfulness modules enabled the children to be deliberate and 'choose to be', by understanding the way their brains work so they can be more positive," says Kirkham. "We talk about 'all things rising and falling', just like breathing in and out, so emotions rise and fall. They practise it and it becomes part of their lives. It's okay to feel, say, anxious or angry - but it helps you get through to know these emotions will fall away if you let them."
This year the lessons have been rolled out to the entire Year 8 cohort at ACG Strathallan but Kirkham is planning to embed the concepts in a more natural way through all teaching at the school. He is using the school's alternating weeks of assemblies and pastoral tutor groups (children stay with the same tutor from years 7 to 13) to set the tone and use powerful examples day to day, not just in the Pause, Breathe, Smile modules.
"There is a pride in achievement, a pride in everybody's achievement, not just one's own," he explains. "We make a concerted effort to model pride, respect and integrity. It's part of a positive education, a component to provide clear values students can draw on when they make choices in life. [We want students] to be kind to themselves, to understand their own values and to spot and emphasise their own strengths.
"Teachers are the role models, they can call out the traits in action, so that this mindfulness is named and explicit," says Kirkham. A recent college assembly focused on positive self-image, useful as the older students head into the stressful times of end of year exams, deciding on post-school futures - or just dealing with life as a teen.
"I have seen...that students are calmer, clearer and more open to learning. Furthermore, the more regularly they practice mindfulness, the more effective it becomes," says Kirkham. "Practising this becomes part of their lives."
